While there’s no resolution in sight just yet for the SAG-AFTRA strike, the time to look forward is now. And simply getting a deal into the bag won’t be the end of the post-strike ramifications, either. Today Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney Los Angeles with Blake & Wang P.A. unpacks some of the challenges facing the post-strike Hollywood landscape.
Streaming Woes Could Just Be Starting
Despite the revolutionary successes of the streaming industry, we can’t ignore the profitability challenges most of the major streaming players are facing. Other than Netflix, most streaming platforms are struggling to turn a profit, and legacy media companies are battling. The strikes have further complicated this situation, disrupting content pipelines for the near future.
As part of the knock-on effects, we’re also likely to see a decline in the post-COVID ‘content boom’. High-value overall deals are becoming less common, with studios looking for cost-effective, long-running, and broadly appealing hits. Maintaining commercial viability is the new king.
Theatrical Knock-Ons and the AI Question
Nor will disrupted pipelines help the theatrical landscape, either, despite the significant upturn we’ve seen from 2023’s breakout hits. Keeping a full slate is a critical part of this continued recovery, and 2025, at least, is likely to be significantly hit by the strike-led production downturn.
The use of AI in content generation has been a contentious point of negotiation between guilds and studios from the start. The recently ratified WGA deal acknowledged the uncertainty around AI's legal use, but did not address the use of writers' material as training data for AI. And some news suggests the studios may be considering legal actions to assert this right. What’s surprising is that they seem to be discounting AI’s effect on copyright for themselves, where some sticky legal issues are bound to arise.
Lastly, but not least, competition for viewers' time is building, with social media captivating younger audiences. Linear TV is struggling to retain viewership, and streaming services are vying for a share of an increasingly fragmented market. Media giants are investing billions to reach a scattered audience, but the real challenge will be to regain a young audience's attention.
Whether we see the hoped-for quick resolution to the SAG-AFTRA strike or not, these thorny issues will have to be resolved sooner or later. It’s time to start problem-solving now.
